Ethnic Unrest Flares Again In Soviet Union

May 19, 1988|By New York Times News Service.

MOSCOW — Ethnic tensions have flared anew in recent days in two Soviet southern republics that were shaken by violent confrontations and mass demonstrations earlier this year, a Soviet radio broadcast said Wednesday.

The new outbreaks of tension, according to the radio report and citizens in the area, included a clash on Sunday between Armenians and Azerbaijanis in the Armenian town of Ararat.

An unspecified number of people were hurt in the disturbance, which was suppressed by Soviet troops called to the mountainous area, reports reaching Moscow said.

On Tuesday, apparently partly in response to the unrest in Ararat, large crowds gathered in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, and Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

The republics were the scene earlier this year of the most severe ethnic unrest in the Soviet Union since the consolidation of Soviet rule in the early 1920s.

The unrest, which began in the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region, a predominantly Armenian area within Azerbaijan, centered on demands that the region be incorporated into Armenia. The demonstrations spread to Yerevan.

Rafael Popoyan, an Armenian nationalist, said in a telephone interview that 100,000 Armenians gathered in central Yerevan on Tuesday in response to the Ararat incident.

They petitioned authorities about issues related to clashes between Armenians and Azerbaijanis that left 32 people dead in the Azerbaijani city of Sumgait in February.

The Baku radio station Wednesday appealed to residents of Azerbaijan to remain calm and avoid actions that might heighten tensions. The broadcast reported that students, intellectuals and other residents of Baku held a meeting to discuss the Ararat unrest and the general problem of ethnic tensions with government leaders.

Other reports reaching Moscow indicated there was a large demonstration in Baku on Tuesday.

Western reporters and diplomats have not been permitted to travel to Azerbaijan or Armenia since the disturbances began in February.